Archive for the ‘heliostat’ Category

12/22/2006

Italians need light——-> how about a moving mirror in winter? Look at this –

Just north of Turin,

Now you thought Italians

knew everything about how to build a town, right? Well Viganella was built at the bottom of a valley in the Alps.Every year around November 11th the sun stops shining on this town, and it doesn’t come back until about February 2nd! In between, for all those weeks, no sunlight falls on this town. And you thought your winter was bad.

So after about 800 years of this, the mayor of Viganella plans to install a giant moving mirror on a mountainside nearby. It’s supposed to reflect the rays from the winter sun, into the town!

An architect is now drawing up plans.

The Mayor believes that a motorised mirror about five metres wide could track the sun, always reflecting it into the town square. “On a clear day this would produce five hours of sunlight in the piazza even in mid-December,” he told the Beeb.

Now they just need about $130,000 dollars to build it.

Hey, if it works, I’d like a few in Chicago. We could use more sun. And we have a progressive Mayor, interesting in saving energy consumption. Mayor Daley, the Sun-King, I like it.

But I wonder, about Viganella, and other cities if they put up these moving mirrors these heliostats. How will light, at a time you’ve never had it, from a direction you’ve never had it, change things? How would human relations change? But also, how would the town physically change? Will they put up new shades? Punch windows in the north side of buildings? Will new buildings orient north?

Italians need light——-> how about a moving mirror in winter? Look at this –

Just north of Turin,

Now you thought Italians

knew everything about how to build a town, right? Well Viganella was built at the bottom of a valley in the Alps.Every year around November 11th the sun stops shining on this town, and it doesn’t come back until about February 2nd! In between, for all those weeks, no sunlight falls on this town. And you thought your winter was bad.

So after about 800 years of this, the mayor of Viganella plans to install a giant moving mirror on a mountainside nearby. It’s supposed to reflect the rays from the winter sun, into the town!

An architect is now drawing up plans.

The Mayor believes that a motorised mirror about five metres wide could track the sun, always reflecting it into the town square. “On a clear day this would produce five hours of sunlight in the piazza even in mid-December,” he told the Beeb.

Now they just need about $130,000 dollars to build it.

Hey, if it works, I’d like a few in Chicago. We could use more sun. And we have a progressive Mayor, interesting in saving energy consumption. Mayor Daley, the Sun-King, I like it.

But I wonder, about Viganella, and other cities if they put up these moving mirrors these heliostats. How will light, at a time you’ve never had it, from a direction you’ve never had it, change things? How would human relations change? But also, how would the town physically change? Will they put up new shades? Punch windows in the north side of buildings? Will new buildings orient north?

Italians need light——-> how about a moving mirror in winter? Look at this –

Just north of Turin,

Now you thought Italians

knew everything about how to build a town, right? Well Viganella was built at the bottom of a valley in the Alps.Every year around November 11th the sun stops shining on this town, and it doesn’t come back until about February 2nd! In between, for all those weeks, no sunlight falls on this town. And you thought your winter was bad.

So after about 800 years of this, the mayor of Viganella plans to install a giant moving mirror on a mountainside nearby. It’s supposed to reflect the rays from the winter sun, into the town!

An architect is now drawing up plans.

The Mayor believes that a motorised mirror about five metres wide could track the sun, always reflecting it into the town square. “On a clear day this would produce five hours of sunlight in the piazza even in mid-December,” he told the Beeb.

Now they just need about $130,000 dollars to build it.

Hey, if it works, I’d like a few in Chicago. We could use more sun. And we have a progressive Mayor, interesting in saving energy consumption. Mayor Daley, the Sun-King, I like it.

But I wonder, about Viganella, and other cities if they put up these moving mirrors these heliostats. How will light, at a time you’ve never had it, from a direction you’ve never had it, change things? How would human relations change? But also, how would the town physically change? Will they put up new shades? Punch windows in the north side of buildings? Will new buildings orient north?